Dispensing apparatus



DISPENSING APPARATUS `v v 1 Filed Jan; s, 193e INVENT OR.

l l="T l.E... WALTER nam/.Unna

' BY' 2mm ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb.

UlsuTlaiDV STATI-:S

PATENT oFFIcl;d r

lnlsrnmsuizc. APPARATUS walter w. williams, Bloomington, nl.` aoouoation January 6,1938, serial No. 183,564 2 claims. (ci. 31a-zic) 'I'his invention relates to improvements in dispensing apparatus and more particularly to the construction of a cabinet for. containing packaged liquids, maintaining the packages at a desired temperature and dispensing them one at a time. Y

It is an object of this invention to construct a cabinet of this character adapted to support a plurality of bottles or cylindrical containers,

1 such as milk bottles, so` as to be delivered by gravity through an outlet at the bottom, and this invention is a further continuation or de velopment of a construction of this character disclosed in this applicants prior co-pending application Serial No. 178,050, filed December 4, 1937. It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved means for dispensing the packages of liquid from the said cabinet.

With these and other objects in view, reference is made to the accompanying sheet of drawing which illustrates a preferred form of this invention with the understanding that minor changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof.

' In vthe drawing:

Figure 1 is a view of a preferred form of this invention with the cover and upper portion of the cabinet removed, illustrating parts in section and parts in plan view.

Figure 2 is a view in vertical section taken on the line 2 2, Figure 1, of the cooling and dispensing portion of the cabinet.

Figure 3 is an enlargedv detail view in central longitudinal vertical sectionof the' dispensing i5 closure. I

Figure 4 is a view in section taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 3. In the embodiment lof this invention as illustrated, a cylindrical cabinet is preferably divided into an upper section l to l0 form a refrigerated compartment containing' the dispensing apparatus, cooling coil, and a lower section 2 to form acompartment to contain any desired type of refrigerating apparatus. The refrigerated compartment I is provided with a L5 spaced-apart inner side wall 3, top wall 4, and bottom wall 5, with the space between the inner and-puter walls filled with an insulation material 6, Vas is customary in refrigerated compartments. The top of the cabinet. is provided with '.0 a door 1 for the insertion of bottles or cylindrical containers I, which door is preferably .circular in form, insulated similar to the cabinet walls yand maybe secured to form an air-tight closure, as shown, or in any other desired manner.

l5 It is preferable to support 'the cylindrical pack- Y 'ogos aiuustrated herein as the usual milk bottles used in the commercial distribution of milk, upon two equally spaced apart annular spiral supports or ramps 9 and I0 extending from the inner wall 3 of the compartment I, each spaced 5 apart from the top a sulilcient distance to allow a bottleto be placed thereon and each terminatin g one above the other within a tangential housing H extending from the lower portion'of the cabinet. The pitch of the spiral annular supm ports or ramps 9 and I0 islsuch that as the bottles are removed from the bottom, those thereabove will descend by gravity.

It is preferable to mount the annular supports or ramps 9 and I0 upon the walls 3 at a slight ,angle to the horizontal and provide the inner free ends with an upturnedfrfiange I2 to engage the neck ofthe bottle, so that in descending, the

.bottles will roll upon a; two-point contact with the support or ramp, one point of contact being m the bottom of the bottle and the other the`neck of the bottle as shown.

Itis preferable to arrange cooling coils I3 and I4 from the refrigerating apparatus upon the under-side of' these supports or ramps 9 and I0 35.

and secured thereto in any desired manner. The cylindrical space surrounded by the annular supports or ramps 9 and I0 may be employed for pre-cooling the bottles later to be placed upon the dispensing spirals and may, if desired, be separated therefrom by a cylindrical spacer I5'.

The construction so far described is preferably the same as that disclosed in this applicants said prior co-pending application Serial No. 178,050. The housing Il rotatably mounts a cylindrical 35 dispensing closure closed at each end by circular plates'l and l'I and its cylindrical walls provided with two longitudinal spaced-apart depressions forming pockets I9 and Iof such size to receive and completely contain a bottle or 0 cylindrical package to be dispensed. The end plates I6 and I1 aresecured upon an axial shaft I9 rotatably mounted in the sidesof the house ing Il to support the dispensing closure. The

bof-tom of the housing n 1s formed with the front wall20 embracingthe cylindrical dispens-` ing closure and is providedv with an opening 2| to register with a pocket I8 or I8a to allow a bottle therein contained to pass out of the housing. 'Ihe housing II is provided with a rear wall 22 which is a continuation of the bottom wall 5 of the Vrefrigerated*compartment l to embrace the cylindrical dispensing closure'to the rear ot the opening 2l and is then extended in a downward curved portion z: over which the tou-.1ov l i discharged from the pocket Il or I 8 through the opening 2i will roll to engage a stop 24 under ,the front of the housing Il and spaced apart from the wall 20 to form an opening 25 through which the bottle may be easily removed.

'Ihe shaft I9 of the cylindrical dispensing closure of the housing Il passes through the outer wall thereof and, if it is to be coin operated, it passes through a casing 26 carried on the housing and is provided with an operating handle 2l upon its exterior end. In any event, the shalt is provided with a stop which will prevent rotation of the closure in one direction with the pocket lila coinciding with the opening 2i of the casing l. In this position, as shown in Figure 2, the pocket I8 is in position to receive a bottle 8 v from the upper ramp or spiral 9 of the casing. The cylindricalbody 21 between the pockets i8 and Illa acts as a stop for the bottles in the lower ramp or spiral ID. When the handle is oscillated in the opposite direction, a s top is provided to be engaged by the shaft when the bottle in pocket I8 is discharged through the opening 2| as the open end of the pocket comes into register therewith. During this oscillation, the cylindrical portion 2l wipes over the contiguous bottles on both ramps until the bottle on the lower ramp or spiral Ill is received Within the pocket lila and during this movement, the cylindrical portion 21 wipes `over the next adjacent bottle on the upper ramp or spiral 9. It is to be noted that the upper ramp or spiral 9 passes over the cylindrical portion 21 and is terminated short of the adjacent inner wall 3 of the cabinet so that the bottles 8 passing by gravity down this spiral are guided into position to be received in the pocket i8 each time it is oscillated to be brought into register with the contiguous bottle.

if desired, any type of commercial coin-controlled apparatus may be contained in the casing 26 to free the handle after it has been brought intov engagement with one of its stops by the depositing of a coin in the casing.

When the cabinet is lled by placing bottles upon the top of each of the spiral supports, they vwill roll down thereover until a bottle on one ramp is received in one of the pockets in the from the other so that they become exhausted on both spirals at approximately the same time. This is a considerable advantage over the applicants prior said co-pending application Serial No. 178,050, because in that application the structure was such that all of the bottles on one ramp had to be dispensed before the closure began to dispense'the bottles from the other ramp. As these cabinets are designed for use in small stores and are to be filled from time to time, preferably by the milk-man delivering the milk, in this latter improved device approximately the same number of bottles on each ramp will be required and the bottles therein will be uniformly fresh.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for cooling and dispensing cally spaced and aligned spiral ramps mounted 2 interiorly of said storage chamber for supporting and forT advancing said containers by gravity to said discharge opening, and an oscillating cylindrical dispensing closure for said discharge opening in said. storage chamber havinga pair o! longitudinal pockets one for each ramp, said pockets being disposed on one side of a diametrical plane through said cylindrical closure, the ends 'of said ramps terminating at substantially diametricaliy opposed portions of said cylindrical closure whereby said containers are received and dispensed alternately from said ramps upon the oscillation of said cylindrical closure.

2. In an apparatus for cooling and dispensing containers, a cabinet containing a storage chamber having a discharge opening, a pair of vertically spaced and aligned spiral ramps mounted interiorly of said storage chamber fo'r supporting and for advancing said containers by gravity to said discharge opening, and an oscillating cylindrical dispensing closure for said discharge opening in said storage chamber having a pair of longitudinal pockets one for each ramp, said pockets being disposed on one side of a diametrical plane through said cylindrical closure, the end of one ramp terminating in a substantially horizontal plane on one side of said cylindrical closure and the end of the other ramp passing over said cylindrical closure terminating in a substantially horizontal plane on the other side of said cylindrical closure in a substantially diametrically opposed relation to the end of said ilrst mentioned ramp whereby said containers are received and dispensed alternately from said ramps upon the oscillation of said cylindrical closure. v

WALTER W. 

